1. "She stood up. She sat down. Nothing more was said. Each one faded from the other through the steam" p.28

Rowena has just died. Robert was supposed to kill the rabbits. Now he is talking to his mom in the bathroom. She is drinking.

I chose this quote because it signifies the end of Robert's family life. It is the last time he sees his mother, and coincidentally, it is placed in a very hard time for him. When his sister died he needed a change. Robert lost a lot of love then and had a very hard time dealing with that. After the conversation with his mom in the bathtub, Robert left for the army and was ready to start a new life. This was a turning point in Robert's life because it is when he left home permanently and started anew.

2. "He began to squeeze the trigger and he squeezed it again and again and again- so many times that when the sergeant major pulled him away the gun went right on clicking in his hands." P.66

This quote marked the first time Robert had to kill something in the war,

5. "His assailants who he had thought were crazies had been his fellow soldiers. Maybe even his brother officers. He'd never know. He hadn't seen their faces." P.169

6. "He might have said 'never'. He might of said 'yes'. But he said 'not yet'. There in those two words, in a nutshell-you have the essence of Robert Ross."

and it just had to be an innocent animal: a horse. This was a turning point for Robert because until then killing was wrong, it wasn't something you have to do all that often. When Rowena died, it was so hard for Robert to even think of killing her rabbits, but now he has to kill. It's procedure. This part in the novel is where Robert begins to realize what war's about, and it broke the ice for him to accept killing and death.

3. "No ma'am. I think we got it for him. We? Barbara asked. Soldiers said Robert. It was the first time he had thought of himself as being a soldier." P.108

4. "It sang and sang and sang till Robert rose and walked away. The sound of it would haunt him to the day he died." P.131

Harris had just died. Robert

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Barbara Taffler, P169 Robert's, Robert Ross, Soldiers Robert, died robert, robert soldier, P108 Harris, fellow soldiers, robert killing, sang sang, rowena died, robert's life,
Approximate Word count = 715
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)